The Black Marketeer and The Cop-Deviator
by Madylyne Hatter
Summary: This series of one-shots captures the moments of simple times as well as times of anxiety and murder in the lives of Will and Hannibal, including their significant others. Jade Graham, Hannibal's fact checker and cop-deviator, and Sydnee Lector, the U.S.'s contact with the black market in organ selling, come together to bring heartwarming and heartrending moments to life.
1. The Dinner Party

"Will, none of the psychoanalysis tonight, ok?" Jade says calmly. She places another dish into the center of the table, adjusts it so it's even, and then steps away to admire her work. Smiling faintly with pride, Jade absentmindedly untangles a long dark curl hanging over her shoulder.

"I won't, if he won't" Will spits. He's sitting to the left of the head chair at one end of the table, glasses in his hand. His eyes are unfocused and dart around the room. Jade sighs and moves over to hover over Will's shoulder.

"We decided that the both of you together mess with each other's brains. I'd very much like it if I didn't have to put you back together again once the both of you are done." Jade whispers close to Will's ear. After a moment of silence where Will made no motion of hearing her, Jade kisses the side of his face and fixes a few curls of unruly dark hair on his head.

"I make no promises."

"Don't you even think about doing your psycho-I-know-what-you're-thinking-analysis thing tonight. I'm in no mood to have to send apology cards to the guests...again." Sydnee says, leaning over the mirror to finish applying her impeccable eyeshadow.

"Yes, I supposed that would be rude." Hannibal muses from behind her. Through the mirror, Sydnee takes notice of the book in her beloved's hand.

"Hannibal, I swear to all things good, I will hide your recipe cards if you and Will go at it tonight." Sydnee threatens, turning around brush still in hand. Hannibal finally looks up from his book, looking straight into her cerulean eyes.

"I make no promises."

"Thank you all for coming! I'm so glad you could make it." Jade says, repetitively to all the guests even if she didn't mean it. It seemed that no matter how much Jade tried to hide it from Will, she didn't like the people from his OR her work very much, but Will's antisocial-ness drove her crazy. Crazy enough to throw a dinner party for people she didn't even like.

The last pair to arrive was Jade's best friend and her plus one, Sydnee and Hannibal. Though Sydnee and Jade were close, the two decided when Hannibal and Will started working together that it wasn't good for either of them. Will was perceptive, perceptive and unhinged enough to entice Hannibal to mess with his brain, and when that started happening, neither one of them got on well.

"Oh Jade, you look stunning" Sydnee gushes holding out her arms for a hug. Once received, she pulls back to look Jade up and down admiringly.

"Still a fancier dresser than I am, I see." She says after a minute. "The house looks good, are the dogs all outside? I see none of the dog beds."

"Yeah, I didn't want them running amuck, and begging food from the other guests. Winston seems to have gained that bad habit from all the other dogs." Jade confides, pulling Sydnee farther into the house so Hannibal could step inside.

"Hannibal." Jade says more out of politeness. She was familiar with Hannibal's…Err…diet.

"Ah, Jade, how is that darling husband of yours; still teaching?" Hannibal smiles; it reminds her of a predator.

"Hannibal…" Sydnee threatens warningly. Her eyes narrow infinitesimally.

"Uh, yes. Almost every day, besides the days I make him stay home with me." Jade says quickly, finally noticing the pot in Hannibal's hands.

"What's that?" Jade says, a little bit worried about what she was going to see on the news tomorrow morning.

"Who, is more like it." Sydnee mutters, moving around Jade to greet some of the other guests.

"I'm very careful about what I eat, and so I figured I'd bring something I could trust. It's non-vegetarian." Hannibal says. He brushes past Jade, careful not to touch her. Jade sits for a moment and struggles to control her revulsion.

"Oh." She whispers low enough that Hannibal had no way of hearing how disgusted she was.

"I tried to stop him. I really tried, but there's no stopping him once he's begun." Sydnee touches Jade's shoulder.

Jade looks up, very deep in thought.

"Well...uh... I'm not quite sure I want to serve everyone-"

"It's just flesh."

"Flesh. I'm not sure I want to serve everyone flesh. From a human being."

Sydnee just laughs, guiding her away from the door and into the dining room where everyone has congregated.

Hannibal has taken the seat at the head of the table, per to his infuriating self-righteous nature. Will sits next to him, eyes not making contact with anyone sitting at the table. The empty spot next to him, Jade assumes, is saved for her. Jade had long ago stopped trying to make Will take a seat at the head of the table.

"I'm very glad you could all make it," Jade says standing behind her seat, "it's a wonderful time when friends are gathered. Bon appetite!"

Jade sits down in her seat, hoping no one noticed her white lie. Friends these people were not. Will makes eye contact, staring into her eyes one second too long. Of course he would notice.

The guests around Jade chatter, many conversations going at once. More than once, she overhears many of the guests compliment Hannibal on his "pot roast". Each time, Jade cringes.

She hoped that God would forgive her for her sins, yet Hannibal was as much as her friend as Sydnee was. There was no way she'd ever do anything to get him caught. After all, he made a habit of eating the rude. Natural selection, she supposed.

"Will, you look horrid. Have you not been sleeping well again?" Sydnee says from across the table. She tilts her head to the side and puts an elbow onto the table, leaning her chin on her palm.

Jade tunes in, answering for her husband, whom she'd spent many nights with him wrapped in towels.

"More so than usual."

It was true. The closeness he had gotten to killing a human being haunted his kind heart. It pained Jade to see him so distraught over this. The FBI promised her that his days in the field were over, yet she heard more and more that he was solving another case.

And another one.

And another.

Sydnee nods her eyes sweeping over Will's tired, yet perceptive gaze.

"I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle." Will says looking somewhere over Sydnee's left shoulder.

"Nothing _we_ can't handle" Jade echoes, stressing the important part.

"Of course, it wouldn't have anything to do with the copycat killer." Hannibal says casually smiling his predatory smile.

Will lifts half his mouth into something that was supposed to be a smile but looked more like a snarl.

"Not that you would know anything about troubles with killing people." He says.

Jade shoots Sydnee a desperate look. Will already had figured out that the "better than you" killings were Hannibal. When it got right down to it, the murders reeked of Hannibal and his self-righteous nature.

Hannibal's smile widens.

"Of course I wouldn't, it's _tasteless_ , killing people that is." Hannibal's smug look appears on his face again.

"Tasteless." Will bites out. He rolls his eyes at the obvious pun on Hannibal's nature.

"Alright, that's it Hannibal." Sydnee says putting her fork down on the table. "I'm burning your Recipe cards."

Hannibal frowns at his beloved.

Jade snickers, and tries, but fails, to hide her laughter behind her hand. It seemed not only she worried about the boys going at it.

"But I didn't do anything." Hannibal says defensively.

Sydnee's eyebrow arches, giving Hannibal an are-you-kidding-me look.

"That's exactly what your messing-with-Will's-brain thing looks like. I've seen it far too many times." Sydnee says.

Hannibal purses his lips and sits back in his chair, taking a rather lengthy drink of his wine.

"I suppose." He murmurs after a time.

Jade closed the door the final time, having said goodbye to all the guests. Will paid them all no attention, but rather went out into the backyard to see the dogs.

When Jade went into their room a few minutes later, all the dogs were lying in their dog beds at the end of her and Will's bed. Will was wrapped up in a towel with another towel beneath him.

He looks up from the paper work in his hands when he hears the door open. Winston and some of the other dogs wag their tails seeing their mistress.

Jade goes into the closet and reappears in one of Will's old t-shirts and some baggy pajama pants, holding another set of clothes for Will, whom was still fully dressed.

"I'm sorry." Jade half whispers, "about tonight. I should have said something sooner."

"Don't worry about. He's just an arse whom we can't live without. It just comes with being near him." Will says leaning over the edge of the bed to drop the paper work onto the floor. He turns back to Jade and pulls his shirt off.

Jade flushes and hands him his shirt. Despite being married and doing _married things_ , the sight of her Will still gave Jade butterflies.

Surreptitiously watching, while pretending not to watch, Will put his shirt back on, Jade hands him his pants and sits down with her back facing him so she could pull the pins out of her hair without getting distracted by the adorable male sitting behind her.

Shaking her hair, out Jade turns to see Will watching her with an amused expression on his face.

"You know, I really don't mind you watching me." He says, flashing a smile in her direction. Jade laughs, feeling the heat color her cheeks.

"I know. As I recall, you seem to enjoy it very much. I was just fixing my hair. The pins give me a hair headache after a while." Jade says. She turns a one-eighty, scooting closer to Will.

He looks at her. His ever perceptive blue eyes take in Jade, from her folded hands to her still red face.

Very slowly, he takes one of Jade's hands into his own. Swiftly pulling her into his lap, Will smiles down at her before giving her a searing hot kiss goodnight.

"Let's go to bed, shall we?"

All Jade can do is nod.

Sydnee stares out the window in stony silence. The tension crackles in the air. Hannibal drives the exact speed limit, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles white.

After what seems like forever of his silence, matched only by those he kills, Sydnee breaks the silence, trying to keep her tone from being sharp.

"I think it was very rude of you to do that tonight. After all Jade invited us, and then you go and make those…sick jokes. Even after I asked you not to."

Hannibal stiffens in the seat next to her. Knowing that if she backed down he would walk all over her, Sydnee doesn't move and she doesn't stop staring out into the night.

"You didn't ask. You threatened the life of my poor recipe cards, even though, if I wanted to, I could stop you where you stood." Hannibal says coldly.

"Well, I had to make sure you understood. Will's sanity is not a playground for you." Sydnee whips her head around to narrow her eyes at the side of Hannibal's face. Out of the corner of his eye, he glances at her without making no other movement.

"You act as if messing with somebody who understands you…who can get inside you head better than I can, is a bad thing." Sydnee says turning to stare out the windshield as the headlights reveal more of the road as they go on.

When Sydnee does not go on for a long while, Hannibal relaxes slowly, pulling up into the long drive way to their house set back in the hills.

"Will is… it's beyond tempting. To see him try to work it out. The murders aren't the same and he knows it. It drives him nuts. The predictability he puts on people, let alone psychopaths and sociopaths, is a little staggering. The mind of a serial killer interests him beyond any control, yet he reins it in. Stops it. Hates it. It's interesting to watch." Hannibal says lowly. Almost too low for Sydnee to hear.

"It's not your job to throw unpredictability at him, Hannibal. Your job is to make sure he's not going to drive himself so far into his mind he won't be able to get back out. Don't forget that." She says, getting out of the Bentley and closing the door.

Leaving him in the car to brood, Sydnee sashays up the front steps, pulling the clip out of her red hair and shaking it out. She takes her heels off in the front hall. Stepping lightly up stairs and double timing it to her room, Sydnee hurries about setting things in their proper place.

She sits at her vanity, dressed in a light purple nightgown, with her white bathrobe over it. She closes her eyes wiping off the day's makeup. She opens her eyes. Hannibal hovers right behind her. His sudden appearance startles her, and she whips around to look at him for herself.

"You are right; my job is to protect Will's mind, not play with it." He says, his dark eyes sliding away from her face.

"I know." Sydnee says, standing up. Moving slowly so as not to scare him, she leans forward and wraps her arms around his waist. He stiffens for a moment, then relaxes into her embrace.

"It's almost time for bed." Sydnee whispers, standing up on her tippy-toes to plant a chaste kiss on Hannibal's cheek. She moves away, stepping halfway around him, before he grabs her arm jerking her back to him. He gives her a different kind of kiss, one that makes her toes curl and grin against his mouth.

"Well, if that's how you're going to kiss me goodnight every night, I don't think I would mind at all." Sydnee says cheekily. She grins up at Hannibal and this time successfully steps away from him. She crawls into bed.

She pats the spot next to her.

"Hurry and change out of your suit. And don't leave your shirt on the closet floor. I don't want to have to iron it in the morning."

Hannibal smiles at her, his alarming predatory smile.

"I make no promises."


	2. The Introduction of Jade Graham

"You know, Will honey, I can hear your heartbeats all the way down here." Jade Graham says from the floor.

Spread around her in a fan-like motion is the files of Hannibal's victims. Most of them are missing person's reports, and a few cold case files. To Jade's knowledgeable eye she could see how they all connected, each of them betraying signs of her best friend's husband. But her mission wasn't to be knowledgeable. Her mission was to make sure that no one could connect Hannibal to any of the crimes.

Out of the two men, Jade was the most "average" thinker, besides her overwhelming urge of OCD.

"Can you? I didn't think that was possible to hear that from that far away." Will says. His fingers type automatically on his laptop, eyes never leaving the screen. Jade knew she could hear the dull _thu-thump_ in his chest because he worked in sync with it.

 _Thu-thump_.

Keystrokes.

 _Thu-thump_.

Slight pause. Repeat.

It was a sound and method that Jade was accustomed to. She'd heard it and worked alongside the sound for a little more than two years. Without Will's notice, she counted his beats whenever the mood struck. Made a song, tapped a dance and a counter rhythm too when time was allowable.

"Yeah, I can hear it. It's distracting me." Jade says thumbing pages apart, reading one of them.

"I'm sorry. I'll shut it off." Will says, looking over the side of his chair down at Jade. His sarcasm stops Jade short.

"Oh, sorry. I don't mean that." Jade drops her papers in her hand and captures one of Will's hand in her own. "I mean the sound is so comforting, that it's lulling me to sleep."

He smiles. "I know, I was just teasing." He smooths a hand down Jade's dark curled hair and cups her cheek with his palm, stroking gently. Grinning slightly, at Jade's flushed face, Will brings the hand holding Jade's up to his lips and presses a kiss to her fingers.

"I swear, you act more and more like Hannibal each time I let you do that." Jade says, brushing off her blush.

Will laughs, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." He teases, turning back to his work.

Silence filled the air and was broken only by the sounds of Will's computer and Jade's papers.

The more she organized the missing person reports and the murders, connections started to appear. Lists of Evidence and alibis brought Jade closer to being able to connect Hannibal to his meals.

"Will…" Jade starts to say, but stops when she hears the sound of someone coming into Will's room. Jade freezes. Surreptitiously, Jade leans against Will's leg, smiling up at him. His eyes flicker down at her briefly before locking onto the computer screen again.

When Katz starts talking about Willard Wigan, Jade makes a face. She didn't really like that lady.

 _Willard Wigan? Seriously? Will is a much better artist at what he does than Wigan._ Jade thinks. She taps Will lightly on the leg.

Slowly Jade sits up on her knees. She peeks over the top of Will's desk. Immediately Detective Katz's eyes focus on Jade.

"Who are you?" She asks. Jade smirks over at Will and stands up fully, clutching her papers close to her.

"Willard Wigan is a sad example for an artist if you ask me." Jade says. Will looks up at her and gives her a smile. His blue eyes are twinkling with merriment.

"How do you know Detective Graham?" Detective Katz asks again, this time looking quizzically between him and Jade.

"Since when are you called Detective Graham?" Jade asks, pointedly ignoring the offensive detective lady in front of her. "It's kinda sexy if you ask me."

Will laughs, shaking his head. His attention is focused solely on Jade now. He adores Jade when she plays with his coworkers. They'd been married a little over a year, and no one even knew she existed. Well, knew she existed as the Mrs. Graham.

"I haven't even been called Detective Graham, I don't think." Will says leaning back in his chair.

Jade flips her long chestnut dark brown hair over her shoulder and smiles wide like she was in a beauty pageant. Some would say that she was, where Will works with a lot of women, but he never saw any of them the way he saw her. All her laughs and secret smiles that he adored. No one could compare to her in his mind.

"I'm Jade Graham. Nice to meet you." She says. Will's heart stutters a little when she says that so casually. It was hard to believe she was his.

Jade looks over at him inquisitively. Of course she heard that. She was making comments on his beating heart earlier. He shrugs slightly, trying not to bust out laughing. He can see Detective Katz's face from the corner of his eye.

Detective Katz, looks between Will and Jade. The confusion is so thick behind her eyes, he can see it almost as well as a cataracts. This time she closely studies Jade, taking in her long dark chestnut hair so curled and fixed, and then her pale skin, red lips, and bright green eyes. Her eyes flicker over Will. He could almost see the wheels turning in her brain as she tried to figure out which type of Graham she was. Sister or wife?

 _Sister apparently._ Will thinks seeing her eyes confuse even more.

"You don't look alike…" Katz says looking at Will. He rolls his eyes and stands up wrapping his arm around Jade's waist, pulling her to his side.

"My Jade Graham." Will says, enjoying the way Jade flushes at his words. He makes a mental note to _try_ and introduce her to more people. Just like that, so he could see the slightly pink cheeks and fluttering eyelashes.

Detective Katz's mouth drops open and her eye zeroes in on Jade's left hand, especially on the two little golden rings on her ring finger. She closes her mouth then opens it again, trying to find something to say.

"You're married?!" She finally says at last.

Will nods, tightening his hold on Jade's waist. He leans over and kisses the top of her head. He pauses for a moment and breaths in her clean freesia scent.

"W-when..?" She says watching them.

"Almost a year ago. It will be in two months." Jade says tapping her finger on the stack of paper in her arms.

Detective Katz stumbles around trying to find some words before just saying, "It was good to finally meet you Mrs. -uh, Jade." She turns around and walks out of the room shaking her head.

Will stands for a moment holding Jade close before whispering in her ear, "You better get out of here before everyone else shows up. I'll never get any work done with those men slobbering all over you."

Jade laughs and nods before bending down to collect her papers. She turns back to Will and gives him a kiss. He holds her face in his hands kissing her a little more than necessary for just a goodbye kiss.

"I'll see you home for dinner then?" She says breathlessly.

"Or a bit earlier, if I decide." Will says.

Jade nods and steps away, gliding effortlessly out the door. Will watches her go, admiring the way her legs look in her heels.

 _Maybe I'll go home a bit early_. Will decides, grinning a little.


	3. In Which Sydnee Meets Dr Bloom

The hospital room is silent save for the constant beeping of Will's heart monitor. Alana Bloom sat next to him in a chair, her hand resting lightly on his. She stares intently at his sleeping face. A commotion out in the hall startles her from her reverie.

The door to the room bursts open and a dark-haired beauty flies into the room, throwing herself onto Will's bed.

"Will! Oh, baby!" Her shoulders shake with suppressed sobs. "I'm so sorry… I wasn't here for you." She places a kiss on Will's forehead. Her hands lovingly caress his cheeks and neck. "I love you so much Will." She says lowly.

Sydnee Lecter walks in. In her left hand is a black briefcase. She surveys the scene with her surrogate sister and brother. And…the other person.

"Who are you?" Sydnee asks her voice indifferent. The lady in the chair looks up from where Jade is bestowing her love on Will.

A flicker of annoyance licks at her from her blood, when the lady doesn't answer. Sydnee raises an eyebrow at how casual she looked with her hand on Will's.

 _A wannabe lover?_ She thinks. She sniffs the air and stops suddenly holding her breath.

 _Is…is that…it's coming from Will._ Sydnee thinks with a jolt. She breaths again, tasting the air around her. The air perfume of Jade and the "schoolish" scent of the lady in the chair left the sweetly heated scent that was tinted with the musky and slightly dog smell of Will. Hannibal was right, the scent of the hospital brought out other people's scent. While Sydnee was nowhere near Hannibal's nose quality, she figured she would have to be nose blind to not smell the sickness in there.

Sydnee walks over, for the most part ignoring the other lady, to read the clipboard on the end of Will's bed.

Reading it carefully, Sydnee slaps her briefcase down on the movable table and clicked it open. After looking for a few seconds for her little flashlight, she strides over to Will in front of the lady, effectively breaking her hold on Will.

Pulling his eyelid up she looked into his blank eyes. She felt his fever by touching the back of her hand to his forehead. She guessed it was somewhere above the one hundred mark. Combined with the seizure and the hallucinations, she was sure of his diagnosis.

"It's Encephalitis." Sydnee says clicking the flashlight off. Jade looked up at her worried for a second before setting her eyes on the lady in the chair on the other side of Will.

"Who are you?" She asks. Sydnee rolls her eyes. How scatter-brained Jade could become when Will wasn't there.

"No, don't worry Jade, he'll be fine. It can be helped by the use of corticosteroids. Which will help with the virus. "

The lady in the chair is staring at Jade again. "My name is Dr. Alana Bloom. And you are?" Sydnee's inner mind perked up. She worked at the Quantico school with Will.

Jade looks down at Will, sniffling a bit. "I'm Jade. Jade Graham." Jade's eyes are soft as she stares down at her love. Will is Jade's everything. You can see it on her face. She is Will's one true love.

Alana looks surprised. Will would never have mentioned his marriage to her, let alone anyone.

"He's married?" Dr. Bloom says a little bit surprised. Jade and Sydnee share and eye roll. Typical Will. Being away from him a long while, especially when people come over really adds to Will's "antisocial" behavior.

"That would account much for the ring on his finger. Or were you too busy ogling him to notice?" Sydnee snaps impatiently. She strides back to Will's clipboard. She mutters something about Will needing a new therapist.

 _Hannibal must have known. I know he does. But if he does, how does the hospital not know?_ Sydnee thinks. Her eyes are desperately looking for his official diagnosis. He hid it. And Sydnee wants to know why.

Alana's eyes slid to Will's left hand. Her startled eyes tell Sydnee that she never noticed the ring at all. It's just a simple gold band. His famous words "this is my design" scrawled on the inside of his and Jade's rings.

"From this moment forward, only family will be allowed in here to see Will; I'm sorry but you're going to have to leave." Sydnee says. She slaps the Clipboard down loudly and begins a fevered pace. Her heels click against the tile floor.

Jade curls up under Will's blanket wrapping her arms around his fevered body. Her green eyes are misty again. She already missed him so much, but to have to come early from their business trip to him comatose, made her miss him all the more.

Alana rises. She looks torn. "I'm sorry…but I kissed Will."

Jade looks up. She doesn't look surprised. Will is the scruffy, cute boy all the girls want. He attracts all kinds of females. There is no one else for him but Jade. She balances him and eases his psyche when he needs it.

"It doesn't surprise me. Though, if I were you, I wouldn't do it again." Jade says. Her voice could freeze hell over and then some.

Sydnee smiles indulgently to herself. Such a good Jade. If there was anything Sydnee had taught her, it was to take claim. What's hers is hers. Show it, take it.

Alana leaves the room, much to everyone's relief.

"That's it. Will is not going to be Hannibal's project anymore. I'm having transferred over to my office. He needs someone who won't enjoy making him feel like crap." Sydnee says to Jade, quietly. She closes the door to Will's room and takes a seat in the seat Dr. Bloom vacated.

Jade doesn't say anything but only slips her arms around Will's torso and clings to him like the lifeline he is.


	4. Lipstick Stains

Sydnee throws her arms around Hannibal's neck kissing his cheek. She takes in the dark red lip pattern left behind but doesn't say anything. Hannibal mistakes her grin for that of her happiness rather than mischievousness.

"I'll see you at home after work, yes? It's my turn to cook tonight so don't you dare eat anything before you get home." Sydnee says hopping off of Hannibal's lap and straightening out her skirt. She smiles very large and caresses his hair smoothing down any signs that she'd been there.

Hannibal catches her hand and kisses it before letting her go. "Of course, I can't wait for a messy kitchen and failed attempts at cooking. Only for you get this 'Subway' and make me eat it." His sarcasm makes Sydnee laugh and shake her head scoldingly.

"Oh, you like it and you know it." She says picking up her coat and briefcase. Waving her fingers, Sydnee slips out the door and down the stairs, smirking at the lipstick stain she left behind.

"Do you have to go?" Jade groans at Will. They were cuddled on their couch while Will read his book. This was Jade's favorite past time. Listening to Will's heartbeat. And stealing his warmth to fuel her own reptilian body ( an inside joke between the two). But mostly listening to his heartbeat.

"It's my appointment with Hannibal, yes I have to go." Will says snapping his book shut and tossing it on the floor. He twists around so he's facing Jade. "But I promise, I'll come back, and we can pick up right where we left off." He says breathlessly.

Jade kisses him, holding him close for a second before letting him go. His woodsy scent clings to her clothes. She smiles. There is a little of her lipstick left around Will's mouth. She doesn't say anything of course. She likes the think of it as pay back for him leaving her.

Will slides a hand through his already mess curls. He gave her _that_ smile and she jumps on him again, intent on making him stay at their little farmhouse.

He smiles against her lips.

"I have to go now, or I'll be late." He says pulling away from her. Jade presses one last kiss to his neck and reluctantly lets him go.

"I suppose. What do you want for dinner anyhow, I should prolly make something…?" Jade asks trying not to notice all her lipstick on her husband. He is wearing more of it than her.

Will thinks for a moment. He bites his lip and then says, "I haven't a clue. I'm sure whatever you make will be just fine."

Jade rolls her eyes, then gets up. Typical man.

"You better hurry or you're gonna miss your appointment." Jade says, handing Will his coat. She ushers him out the door and waves from the window a smile on her face. Those lipstick stains, though.

"Ah, just in time William." Hannibal says opening the door. The first thing he notices is the light pink mark on his neck ,and the red coloring around his lips, showing lots of scrubbing.

He moves to the side and allows Will to enter. The freesia scent of Jade clings to Will. _Jade's lipstick,_ Hannibal muses.

The two take a seat in their normal chairs. The first thing out of Wills mouth is "What is that?" His eyes are fixed on Hannibal's face. His eyes are confused, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Hannibal reaches up and touches his cheek, not feeling anything, he stands and moves to the glass of his cabinet. He turns his face casually to the side and stops when he see the dark red lip mark.

 _Oh, Sydnee you minx._ Hannibal thinks wryly. He whips out his handkerchief and wipes the mark away. Checking himself over to make sure there weren't any more, Hannibal turns around and saunters back over to Will, holding out his handkerchief.

"It seems your dear lovely wife left her own affections." Hannibal says smirking. Will groans. He takes the handkerchief and furiously wipes at his mouth.

"I was so sure I'd gotten all of them." Will says. He looks up at Hannibal.

Hannibal points a finger at his own neck. The snarky grin is back on his face as Will's face lights up bright red.

He mumbles incoherently about "Not letting his wife wear that dammed stain ever again". He wipes at the pink mark on his neck and hands the handkerchief back to Hannibal.

"Thanks…" Will mumbles still red.

"It seems a female's choice show of affection is the lipstick mark. I wouldn't be too mad; this would be the third time you've showed up with that same mark." Hannibal says folding his hankie and putting it back in his pocket.

Will laughs. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head exasperatedly.

"Well, at least I was kind enough to tell you. Just think, you probably went half the day with that." Will laughs.

Hannibal's face drops his smile. Will smiles winningly.

"Let's not mention this again, shall we?"


	5. Five Year Anniversary: Masquerade Party

Jade twirls around in front of Sydnee's full-length mirror. The long satin white gown clings to her torso and arms, while the full skirt flares out around her hips all the way down to the floor. Cream white lace adorns the sleeves and bodice.

Secured firmly to Jade face is a simple white mask. Its simpleness made Jade's painted red lips and large green eyes seem all that more vibrant. Her dark chestnut hair was curled and teased out around her shoulders reaching down and swaying with each twist and turn Jade made. The dark was a stark contrast to the white. It made her feel somewhat like Snow White.

"I can hardly recognize myself." Jade says excitedly. She can hardly look away from the mirror.

Sydnee watches on in appreciation. Her red hair is piled intricately on top of her head with a few long elegant pieces framing her face. While not being in costume, but rather in a bathrobe, she still looks like she just walked off a movie set placed in romantic Europe.

"That's kind of the point. Wait till you see Will. You won't recognize him either." Sydnee says, leaning back on one leg crossing her arms.

Jade smiles brilliantly. Her deep green eyes alight with curiosity. She moves to ask Sydnee a question but stops when she holds up a hand.

"You'll just have to wait and see. Now stop fussing. You'll wrinkle the gown."

Jade sighs and moves away from the mirror to sit carefully on Sydnee's bed. The crinolines make it a little hard to sit fully on the silky sheets of her bed. She kept sliding off, so she finally gave up and settled for standing quietly by a post of the four-poster bed.

It is Halloween; Jade's favorite time of the year. This year, in celebration of Hannibal and Sydnee's 5th anniversary, Sydnee planned a whole wild fiasco: A masquerade ball. So cheesy, yet so fun.

However, it is almost to be expected that Hannibal and Sydnee would be by far the most regal pair there; Sydnee having been preparing for this her entire life. No one had any idea how big a shadow the Lecter princess cast when she most definitely wanted to.

Sydnee came out of her closet in dress. She wore a long red dress. The style was similar to Jade's yet there were no long sleeves trailing down like Jade. It was bright, like the sun.

Jade looks closer. The dress wasn't just one color, but rather a million shades of red, orange, and yellow mixed together. Any movement Sydnee made changed the colors of the dress, making them dance across her skin. She looks as if she were on fire, yet with her pale white skin and blue eyes, it was impossible to look away.

"How does it look? I'm supposed to be the sun." Sydnee says crossing the floor. Jade stares.

"You nailed it. Right on." Jade says, watching Sydnee fasten a gold mask that flared out in delicate spindles across her forehead and cheeks to her face.

"You think so? Hannibal was the one to pick our theme. As well as yours and Will's. He's going to be the moon."

Jade laughs softly to herself. How right she was in assuming that Hannibal and Sydnee would steal the show.

"What's so funny?" Sydnee asks, spinning around and placing her hands on her hips. The dress changes from red to gold then back to red.

"Nothing, just that you and Hannibal always look so…fancy, compared to the rest of us."

That pulls Sydnee up short. She's silent for a moment before she begins to laugh, short breathless gasps.

Jade waits for her to finish before saying anything. Before she can however, Sydnee beats her to it.

"You obviously don't understand how beautiful you look if you think Hannibal and I will be a problem to your…fanciness, was it?"

Jade blushes at Sydnee's words, yet she still found them hard to believe. She may look fantastic, but Sydnee was stunning.

Sydnee stands in front of the mirror, fixing a necklace around her neck, when she suddenly stops. Her eyes slide to Jade, fixing on her bare neck.

"I totally forgot! You need to go find Will! He has something for you!" Sydnee bundles Jade out the door, shoving an armful of skirt at her. "Here, Go! He's in the library just down the hall." The door closes loudly in Jade's face.

 _Ok. Whatever. To the library I go._ Jade thinks, dropping the armful of her skirt to the floor. This place was impeccable. Nothing was going to dirty it up.

Jade wanders down the hall, stopping here and there, looking out the windows into the dark. The moon in its half phase. Yet, it's still bright, Jade can see the outline of the tree's against the dark midnight blue sky. The sight sends chills down her spine.

"Jade?"

She freezes. _Even though I walk through the valley of shadow and death…_ Jade think wryly. She waits a second more, before turning away from the window, to face the man who wanted her dead more than anything. The only thing stopping him? Will's happiness.

Hannibal stands behind her, though if he had not spoken she would not have known it were him.

He stands tall, in a crisp midnight blue suit. The suit is like Sydnee's. The closer Jade looks, she can see the silver and black mixed with the dark blue. A long shimmery cape hangs from his shoulders, held in place by silver crescent moons. His hair is slicked back, a sliver half-mask in place over the right side of his face. The eye that isn't covered by the mask is outlined in black eyeliner and sliver powder on his cheeks and eyebrows.

All Jade can do is stare. He is stunning, just like is female counterpart. Yet, underlying the moon, Jade can see it. The predator. The hunter. She can see it in the taunt line of his jaw, and the darkened color of his maroon eyes. She can see it in the ramrod straight of his back, and being entirely honest, it scares her.

"Hannibal." Jade forces out at last. Fear makes her throat thick, making it hard to force any air out for words.

"You look nice. I'm glad Sydnee was able to make the idea work for you and Will. It would have been a shame if you hadn't been able to compare to Will in any way." Hannibal says dismissively walking past Jade, headed for his and Sydnee's room.

His words ring in her ears. That was the closest she'd ever come to a nice remark from him. Even though he pretty much called Will better looking than her.

"Thank you." Jade says quietly when Hannibal opens the door to his room. He pauses for a second, then continues inside without a word.

After that, Jade hurries down the hall to the last door on the right, pushing it open and peeking inside.

By the far wall, a roguishly handsome man stands with his back to her. From the familiar slouch of his shoulders, and the way he stands with his feet slightly apart, Jade knows exactly who this mysterious stranger is.

"Will?" Jade calls slipping inside the room and closing the door behind her.

At her voice, Will whirls around. He stops suddenly his eyes landing on the maiden in front of him.

Jade stops too. Her eyes widen imperceptibly behind her mask. Sydnee is right, Will looks nothing like the messy, curly haired boy she knew.

He looks sleek, standing there in his black attire. The suit is an older style with a black vest and shocking white cravat. He wears no coat, only a glimmer of a deep blue shirt that was so very nearly black. A long cloak shimmery black, draped around Will, accents the broad shape of his shoulders. Will's hair is tamed so that his curls aren't so wild yet they hang almost wet-like around his face, framing his deep blue eyes. A white half mask covers most of his clean-shaven face. And suddenly Jade understands.

 _We're the Phantom and Christine…_ Jade's eyes rake over Will once more, drawing conclusions that she is, in fact, right.

He looks her up and down, his blue eyes darkening. Jade shifts nervously, blushing when she acknowledges the steady gaze he has on her.

"How do I look?" Jade softly asks, doing a slow twirl to give him the full effect. Will looks at her a moment more, before lunging forward to grab her wrists, pulling her to him.

"You're so beautiful. It hurts and pleasures my eyes to see you." He whispers softly his sapphire eyes locked on Jade's green ones. He leans forward slowly, breathing deeply. His eyes flutter shut and a ghost of a smile graces his lips.

It's in moments like these that Jade knew she'd die for this man. Anything to see him keep living.

Will releases one of her hands to gently brush his fingertips across Jade's cheek, so softly.

"You're so stunning I can hardly stop myself from kissing you senseless. I doubt I'd look that stunning with that red all over my face." Will's fingers glide down griping her chin holding Jade's head still.

She's almost positive that her heart is going to beat right out of her chest. The look in his eyes leaves no doubt that Jade is stunning. He has never been anything but brutally honest, if a bit biased.

Slowly, Will leans down. "I will just have to be careful then, won't I?" He says, pressing his lips firmly to Jade's.

Just like that her mind goes blank from anything but the man in front of her. Her one free hand grips Will's lapel, trying to tug him closer, only he won't allow it. He breaks away suddenly jumping away from Jade like she burned him.

"That's enough testing my self-control for tonight, eh?" He says his eyes alight with mischief. His breaths come in gasps, while he continues to stare.

Jade blushes, twisting her fingers together and staring at the floor.

"Sydnee says you have something for me." Jade says, clearing her throat. Her eyes raise from where they were stuck on the floor and land on Will.

He nods. Will slowly reaches into his pocket removing a small velvet box. He opens it up and removes a long drop pearl necklace. Snapping the box shut, Will places it back in his pocket. Slowly, he approaches Jade. His long nimble fingers deftly undoing the clasp.

Will moves to stand behind Jade, placing the drop pearl around her milky white throat.

"I don't know if I want you going out there dressed like this. You might attract the wrong kind of attention." Will says wistfully.

Jade laughs. "I won't have to worry standing next to you. You are epitome of beautiful. I don't think even Hannibal is as beautiful as you." Jade admits twirling a curl around her finger.

Will shakes his head. His fingers ghost over her throat, causing her pulse to jump.

"And I doubt any female shall be as stunning as you are now, cast in the firelight you resemble an angel…" Will murmurs nuzzling his face into Jade's hair.

A blush creeps up Jade's neck before finally residing at her cheeks.

"Thank you, Will." She says.

From somewhere outside the library, a great tolling reverberates throughout the house signaling the start of the party.

Sydnee swipes a red curl back out of the way of her mask, pulling a smile to her face. She is sitting in Hannibal's reading chair, twisting the skirt of her dress in her hand.

Sydnee was nervous. It seemed that five years with Hannibal was such a short time, but having the pleasure of knowing Hannibal herself, Sydnee knew that five years is a long time to have avoided death.

The danger that came with being married to a cannibal was insurmountable. The only thing that made it easy was Sydnee's unfailing trust in Hannibal. She trusted him enough that every time he came near her, it wouldn't be to kill her, unless he told her so. She trusted him enough to know he would tell her right before he did it.

The door to the bedroom opened.

 _Speak of the devil_. Sydnee thinks seeing Hannibal walk in. Her heart stops for a second seeing him, standing there in his regal glory. He's beautiful.

Hannibal's maroon eyes, sweep the room before landing on Sydnee lounging by the fire.

He moves across the floor, lithely. His suit flashes the millions of colors hidden. He stops in front of Sydnee, not saying anything. His eyes roam over her. His perceptive gaze has her shifting in her seat, looking anywhere but at him.

His fingers reach out to touch her, but stop when unthinkingly, Sydnee flinches away.

She curses herself, for such an act of fear. She meets Hannibal's eyes reluctantly. His hand is frozen inches away from her cheek. His maroon eyes are carefully blank of any kind of emotion.

"Sorry. I was thinking again." Sydnee apologizes quickly. She reaches up to take Hannibal's frozen hand in her own. However, she stops suddenly feeling the cool skin of his hands grip her wrists roughly.

He pulls her slowly up from the chair, taking care not to move her too fast. All the while he holds her gaze steadily.

"Are you afraid of me?" Hannibal asks lowly. His eyes scream "danger, danger!" in the low light of the room. His grip on Sydnee's wrists is tight, almost bone-crushing.

Sydnee's heart starts beating a frantic rhythm in her chest. She's positive that it's going to beat right out of her chest. But rather than fear, it was with excitement. She liked it when Hannibal got that look on his face. When the predator came out to play.

Her unfailing trust in him tells her brain and her heart that Hannibal wouldn't hurt her. On purpose.

"No. I think I rather like, and some would go as far as to say love, you." Sydnee says cheekily. She smile brilliantly, and takes a step close to Hannibal.

His eyes falter.

"But have a care would you? I just finished applying my makeup." Sydnee finishes in a lie. She had been afraid. Afraid for a split moment, and that had cost her some new bruises on her wrists. With Hannibal, she couldn't afford to be afraid for a moment.

Hannibal scans her face, looking for any sign that she might have been lying. All that shown in her face was simple adoration.

Hannibal sighs, releasing Sydnee from his grasp.

"You look stunning. Always the star of the show." He says a hint of a smile crossing his face.

Sydnee does a twirl for him, making the colors ripple across her skin. A stray curl escapes from behind her ear and bounces around her face.

A real smile tugs at Hannibal's lips. He catches his wife by the waist and tugs her to him, always having the burning need to have her touching him.

"Though perhaps, "star" isn't the correct word to describe you. That dress becomes you. Very much." He says tucking the stray curl behind her ear.

Sydnee blushes, her cheeks becoming tinted in pink. She looks up at him through her quivering eyelashes.

"As we are the Sun and the Moon, I should hope we are both outrageously beautiful." Sydnee says adjusting her mask. She wraps her arms around Hannibal's neck, the gold in her dress lighting up the fabric.

They are so close now, noses almost touching. She eases up onto her tippy-toes in her heels so she's closer to him. Just a little bit closer.

Hannibal wraps his arms tighter around her waist. The predator is almost gone. She can see it.

Closer, and Sydnee knows she's been forgiven. She loves Hannibal, and sometimes she was sure he loved her. Their relationship was complicated. Will would always be Hannibal's favorite, but he couldn't live without Sydnee. Not yet at least.

Around them, the tolling of the grandfather clock on the ground floor makes itself known. The deep tolling signifies the beginning of the night, and Sydnee almost bounces out of Hannibal's arms in excitement.

"Time to go! Go find Jade and Will and we'll go down together!" Sydnee says flying to the closet to retrieve a pair of white lace gloves. She pulls them on rolling the ends down so they weren't quite so long.

When Sydnee exits the closet, the room is empty. Checking herself once more in the mirror, Sydnee all but flies out of the room.

Finding Hannibal, Jade, and Will at the top of the stairs, Sydnee floats into her spot by Hannibal's side.

Hannibal holds out his arm to Sydnee and she winds her own through his. Turning around to check that Jade was still put together, meaning Will hadn't messed her hair or makeup up; Sydnee is satisfied with what she sees.

Down the stairs they descend into the heart of the party.

The hall is cloaked in black swaths of fabric. The black hangs down, covering the windows and most of the ceiling. The room is lit up by strings and strings of Fairy Lights almost creating a canopy of stars over the guest's heads. White flower garlands wrap around the winding stair case, and the six pillars holding the room up. The scents of thousands of perfumes as well as that of the flowers coats the room in a thick haze.

Everybody is dressed up. Masks and overzealous dresses, each one trying to be the better one. Different shades of blues and greens dominate the dancefloor where couples try their hand at waltzing. When Sydnee and Hannibal are seen on the stairs, the guest stop what they are doing to clap, congratulating the Lecter's on their marvelous party.

The ladies eye Sydnee's dress with obvious envy. The fire-like dress is easily the brightest there. Hannibal standing next to her in his own shimmery costume sends everyone into self-consciousness.

When the first pair steps away and disengage into the crowd. Jade and Will are left standing on the bottom of the stairs. Many of the men's eye focused on Jade's splendor.

"I was right. I shouldn't let you be down here parading your beauty in front of all these people." Will whispers in Jade's ear. He whirls her off the stairs and over to the side where all the cocktail tables stand.

"What makes you say that?" Jade asks watching the anxiety in Will's eyes.

"I say that because no one is stupid enough to want to mess with Hannibal and Sydnee…but you… you're so beautiful and next to me, and everyone wants you." Will bites out in a sad manner his eyes sweeping the dance floor.

Jade presses closer to Will's side, noticing finally the hungry gazes. She wraps both her arms around Will's and pretends to smile.

"Dance with me." She whispers in his ear. He looks at her startled.

"I can't. I don't know how." Will whispers back. Jade rolls her eyes and clings to Will harder.


	6. In Which All Good Things Must End

Sydnee Lecter sits at her dining table. Just sitting there. Her hands are placed gently in her lap. Her heels are kicked off under the table and her hairdo is falling out, long tendrils of red hair framing her face. Her blue eyes stare vacant across the table. There is no one else in the room, let alone the house.

She knows. Her time is almost up. Hannibal and Will are leaving, and there's no room for her or Jade. In front of Sydnee is a letter. A letter that fixes all of her affairs; a will of sorts. It wasn't fancy like it would normally have been for an invitation. The writing is shaky, as her hand shook when she wrote it.

How horrid Sydnee feels. It is like her insides are twisting into a knot. Her breath is shaky no matter how hard she wishes it weren't. She only hopes that her family would be able to recognize her by the time Hannibal is done with her.

Then she hears it. A sad sound that makes her heart beat. It beats so fast. Faster and faster as her fear comes true. Hannibal is home.

Slowly, his definitive footsteps come closer and closer to the dining room, as if he knows precisely where she would be sitting.

 _Oh my God. Oh my god. Let this be quick._ Sydnee thinks desperately. The door slides open, and Hannibal appears. Sydnee can't move. Her muscles are frozen as he comes closer putting his keys on the end of the table and draping his coat over the end chair.

Closer and closer he comes. Sydnee is terrified, yet no sound can escape. He is so close she can smell his aftershave. And then-

Sydnee is startled enough that she jumps when she feels Hannibal's lips in her hair.

"Lost in thought, were you?" He says a smile in his voice. Sydnee stares up at him her eyes wide. She forces a smile to her face. It looks more like a grimace.

"Uh…Yes." Sydnee says her eyes never leaving Hannibal. Oh, how she loves him. If only he returned the favor.

"What were you thinking about, love?" He asks flipping through their mail that Sydnee had laid out for him to see.

"Nothing." Sydnee lies automatically. Her eyes glaze back over hardly noticing the way Hannibal watches her.

The room falls into silence. Sydnee can't bring herself to make small talk. The only question she wants to ask is burning her tongue with the need to get out.

"Are you hungry, love? I can make something…" Hannibal starts looking up at Sydnee. He stops when he sees the blank look.

"Jack Crawford, will be coming for dinner tonight." Hannibal says lowly. Sydnee's blank eyes come back into focus and she blinks…once…twice… three times. Her dark blue eyes stare into Hannibal's maroon ones, trying to convey her question.

"When…" Sydnee starts to ask, but chokes on the rest of her sentence. Tears threaten to fall. They burn her eyes and then fall, leaving a scorching trail down her cheek.

Never before had Sydnee felt so isolated before. Never before had she felt as lonely and cold as she did now. The dark feeling of loneliness seeps up from the carpet, like thick black water. It clogs her nose and fills her ears.

"Come here, Sydnee." Hannibal holds out his hand, his thick accent cutting through the clogged up sensation around Sydnee.

Sydnee looks up. Her eyes swim with tears as she places her hand in his. His warm hand closes around her cold one, and he pulls her into his arms swiftly. One hand cups the back of her neck, holding her to his shoulder, and the other holds her hand. His touch is gentle and not at all like she assumed it would be.

Sydnee relaxes against him. Slowly the dark water recedes and she's left shaking against the strangely beautiful human in front of her.

When the shivers stop, Hannibal takes both of her hands into his own and he guides her. Guides her past the drawing room, and up the stairs; he pulls her into their room, and makes her lay down on the bed.

"It's just a sedative. You'll sleep for a long while and when you wake up, I'll be gone." Hannibal says opening the black bag he retrieved from the closet.

Sydnee doesn't say anything, only watches him with wide, scared eyes as he draws the syringe out and places it to the crook of her arm. Slowly, the clear liquid is pushed into her blood. A chillingly cold path makes its way through her veins leaving a sense of numbness behind.

Sydnee jerks up grabbing onto Hannibal's hand when he tries to move away. She pulls him with no real strength closer to him and tries to sit up, her numb body proving this task difficult.

"I love you." She whispers quietly in his ear before falling back to the bed. Her eyes drift close. The slow moving of her chest is the only indication that she is alive. She lies, barely breathing, skin a pale faded gray color.

Hannibal sits for a minute, watching Sydnee's slow breathing before gathering her up into his arms. Her limp form hangs awkwardly from his arms. He pulls the covers of the bed back, and places her so; he takes out the pins from her hair and undoes the first two buttons of her shirt.

 _As if she just came for a nap_ , Hannibal thinks whipping the covers back over her. He can pretend for now that she will wake soon and come down to have dinner with him.

The rain pours outside as the FBI swarm the old Lecter residence. Multiple ambulance's wait to carry out their passengers to the nearest safety: Will Graham, Abigail Hobbs, Jack Crawford, Alana Bloom, and the Lecter sleeping beauty.

In Wolf's Trap, Virginia, on a farm out in the middle of nowhere, Hannibal sits with Jade Graham. Jade clutches a teacup in her hands, the warmth of her drink doing nothing to warm her.

"Is he dead?" She asks quietly. The blood all over Hannibal glares at her as if she can discern whose was whose blood. The small female takes a sip and waits for Hannibal's answer.

"No. I could not kill him any more than I could kill my own wife." He says. He paces the floor. The dogs lie in their beds in front of the fire.

"Did you come here to kill me?" Jade asks again, her fear making her bold in her words. Will told her once that he couldn't protect her from Hannibal. It was fine, she didn't think even the secret service could save her from Hannibal.

Hannibal's head whipped around to stare at her. His maroon eyes are startled and clear. There is no sign of fear in his eyes. He crosses the floor to where Jade is sitting in Will's chair at the desk.

"No, Jade. We must go." Hannibal says crouching down in front of her. His hands shake slightly as he grips her knees.

"I can't protect you from the F.B.I. from far away. Sydnee's work was shared with you as well as my own nature and you did not report it. You will be an accessory to murder." Hannibal says, his voice urging her to take flight.

Jade's life falls apart before her eyes. No longer would she be able to stay here in the cozy farm in Wolf's Trap. No longer could Jade keep the life she and Will worked hard to build. The incessant burn of tears reminded Jade she still had to make a choice. Go, or lose her freedom.

"I will pack a bag."

Will wakes slowly. The constant beeping of a hospital monitor lulls him awake. The deep of Will's dream wares off.

Slowly, Will opens his eyes. Instantly, he is aware of three things. 1. He hurts. Very much. 2. He is alone. 3. Jade is not here.

Will looks around the room trying not to jostle himself too much. Nothing. Not a bag that signified her presence, nor the lingering scent of freesia flowers.

 _She's dead._ Will thinks automatically. There are no flowers either. _Alana's dead too. And maybe Jack, definitely Abigail._ Will's harsh thoughts at his foster daughter don't register as much pain as his thoughts about his Jade.

Will closes his eyes again. He wishes he is dead. Life without the stunning beauty isn't much of a life at all. Will's heart aches. Much more than he has ever felt.

Once more the darkness of sleep closes over Will's head, and he doesn't even try to fight it.

The F.B.I. interview him. Jack isn't there and Will learns that he is still in recovery. Glass to the throat. Cut his arteries and bled out in the Kitchen, obviously still in recovery. Abigail is dead. Throat slit too. Alana is alive. Broken spine and neck, still in recovery.

Yet, despite all of this harrowing news, there is hope in Will's heart. Jade wasn't found at their home, signs that she left in a hurry. They think she is in cahoots with Hannibal and left with him.

Will kindly tells the F.B.I. otherwise. They don't contradict him.

When Will is able to walk, hobble really, he goes for a walk. He stumbles twelve steps down the hall to room 203 and knocks on the door. No answer.

Will pushes the door open and hobbles inside to the chair waiting for him at the side of the bed. The lone survivor.

Sydnee Lecter lies still, hardly breathing, skin a pale shade of gray. She lies still red hair fanning about her pillow. Still she sleeps. The Lecter Sleeping Beauty. There is a story about it on Tattle Crime, courtesy of the revived Freddie Lounds.

Will takes her hand in his own. He would be here when she woke up. He was going to make sure of it.

"Sydnee, you wouldn't believe all that's happened while you were asleep. Bella's funeral was today.." Will says talking to his sleeping best friend. He believes she can hear him, somewhere within her lucid dreams.

Will stares off into the distance across the room out the window. He watches the birds fly about. There's a nest in the tree right outside her window.

"I couldn't go. I'm not in any shape to be moving about either, but you're all I have left right now, and I couldn't leave you here alone." Will continues. It is always the same thing. He wouldn't leave her alone in this place.

"I think the nurses are tired of me wandering about. But I only go to one place so I'm not that hard to find."

Slowly, Will loses track of time as he speaks. He tells Sydnee all about the new stories on Tattle Crime and the show he watches in his spare time. He had to request a book from the nurses as he is so bored just lying in his bed trying not to think about Jade and how she is doing. He misses her so much.

The one-sided conversation soon turns to Will's dreams.

"I had a dream. Jade was standing in the doorway of a cathedral, and she called to me. I can still hear her sweet voice calling to me. One day, Sydnee. You and I are going to see these places for ourselves. We'll fix the broken teacup."

He doesn't notice the blue eyes fixed to his scruffy face. She tries to recommit his face to her memory.

Her dreams had been nice. They were of Europe, at the place she and Hannibal had taken their honeymoon. Will and Jade had been there, their faces had been darkened. She couldn't see them. The only one she could remember clearly was Hannibal. And that was all she needed to keep going. To fight through the chilling numbness to hear Hannibal tell her he loved her too.

"I believe you." Sydnee says. She had remained immobile while Will spoke. When his eyes landed on her awake face, he lurched forward to hug her. His clean woodsy scent had been somewhat marred by the smell of the hospital. It bothered her.

"I've missed you Will. You were in my dreams, though." Sydnee says, her voice muffled by Will's shoulder.

"Sydnee, it's about time." Will scolds gently leaning back into his chair. He winces as he sits down, the scar on his stomach pulling at the stitches.

"Well, I was waiting for a true love's kiss, but that didn't happen so here I am, fashionably late as normal." Sydnee says cheekily making Will laugh.

Will smiles. It had been a long time since he had had a reason to laugh.

"I suppose you had to let Freddie get all her stories out, didn't you?" Will says back. He looks happier to Sydnee than he had sounded from his words.

"Well, of course. I need a whole special all to myself. It wouldn't have happened if it had been a few days later." She says sitting up. They lapse into silence where Sydnee stretches out her unused muscles. After a few minutes, she stops.

"Have they caught him?" Sydnee asks quietly. Will squeezes her hand.

"Not yet. Haven't seen Jade yet either. They completely disappeared, just like he planned." Will says just as quietly.

Sydnee sighs. "Looks like we have to go and find them, yeah?"

Will smiles bitterly, looking down at their hands.

"Yeah, in a little bit. When we're all better and the F.B.I. are off our case." He says.

"Do you think we'll find them?" Sydnee asks more confidently than she felt.

"That, I can promise we will."


	7. Christmas in Florence

Jade rolls over in her bed. She picks up the frame by her bedside and sighs, feeling the burn of the tears in her eyes. Will stared back at her from behind the glass, his face frozen in a smile. A few tears slip from her eyes and wet her pillow.

"Jade, you can't stay in bed all day." Hannibal says walking into her room. He is dressed in snow boots a black parka. He holds the keys to their SUV in one hand, and a cup of something warm in the other.

"Watch me." Jade replies hunkering down under her plaid comforter, one of the few things Hannibal allowed her to bring from her home in Wolf's Trap, Virginia.

Hannibal sighs. Jade thinks he walked out of the room seeing she didn't hear him anymore. She relaxes for a split second then is hauled out of her bed wrapped in her comforter.

"Hannibal! PUT ME DOWN!" Jade screeches trying to get out of her wrappings. She wriggles futilely.

Hannibal sets her down in a chair by the fire and Jade wrenches back the blanket from her face. Immediately the cup of hot coco is shoved into her hands. Jade glares up at Hannibal through her bangs.

"Sit here until I come back, and then you can go back to bed if you still feel no desire to stay up." Hannibal says slipping on a pair of black leather gloves, the expensive kind that warm your hands up in seconds.

"Where are you going?" Jade grumps at him. She settles back in her chair, pulling her feet up.

"I'm going out to do some shopping. Don't answer the door, and don't call Will." Hannibal says. Jade doesn't make eye contact, and Hannibal leans down and grips her chin forcing her to look at him.

"You promised that I'd be able to let him know I was alright." Jade glares at Hannibal.

"Later." Hannibal says letting her face go and heading for the door. He straightens out his jacket and runs a hand through his hair. He stops for a second.

"The sooner we get some creditability around here, which means you don't blow holes in our story, the sooner Will and Sydnee can be reintroduced. Be patient Jade."

Jade stares into the fire. It seems like it was only yesterday that Sydnee had worn a dress so very similar to the fire. A lonely pang noses about Jade's heart. She misses the vibrant redhead hanging about her house waiting for Will to come home so they could go fishing. She misses her old life, before she was Ms. Fell.

Jade gets up from her chair. The thought of Will Graham made her heart, and her head, hurt. She wanders over to the bay window that overlooked the streets of Florence. A light snow fall began. Big flakes that stuck together soon coated everything, living and nonliving alike.

Even though it was snowing, nothing around her in the lavish city reminded her of Virginia.

 _The air used to be cleaner_. Jade muses. She wanders away from the window, not content with standing still.

In the study, Jade pages through Hannibal's work and translations. She doesn't stop to read much, just for something to do. When Jade finishes with that, she opens up the calendar to see what was on their agenda.

 _How many parties is it this month?_ Jade thinks to herself bitterly. She stops when she sees a small yet familiar number written down on that date. It was Sydnee's cell phone number. Below it in smaller, but just as neat, handwriting is a set of coordinates.

Jade takes the calendar and rushes out to the living room where Hannibal's laptop sat. Flipping it open, she stops at the password.

 _Sydnee Sterling_. Jade types. Wrong. The hint comes up. "Think harder, Jade" is what it reads.

Jades stares at it for a moment. A number of profanities come to mind. Anniversary date?

Favorite movie?

Favorite color?

Will Graham?

None of them work. Jade searches her mind, trying to think up something that would mean something to Hannibal. Dates, names, and words fly through her mind until she stops. It was so stupid, a name she referred to constantly when describing him.

 _Sarcasm._ The log in screen goes black, and the home screen pops up. A memo on the screen stops Jade.

"Funny, yes?"

Jade snorts and opens up the browser. On the screen is a map. The coordinates she is looking for already on the screen.

A pay phone.

Jade glares at the screen. That sick, disgusting human is calling Sydnee. That liar!

She throws the computer and calendar onto the seat across from her. She stomps into her room and digs around in her suitcase looking for her old cell phone. Looking at it, she thinks better of it and places it back.

 _The F.B.I. could be watching for this number…_ Jade sits back on her heels. She stares at the black screen for a long moment. So close. If only she could call him, Jade is sure she'd be able to fit in better. Play her part. Let Will and Sydnee find them.

 _Screw it. I'll use Hannibal's new phone._ Jade smiles to herself. It was after all only fair since he snuck off the call Sydnee.

The phone rings. Jade is scared. What do you say to someone you love when you're half way around the world?

"Hello?" Will's voice fills the receiver. All of a sudden Jade feels like crying. The sweet timbre of his voice didn't match anything of her dreams.

"Hello?" He asks again.

"Will?" Jade whispers. The line is silent. The she hears a screech from somewhere on the other side.

"TALK TO HER YOU IDIOT!" Sydnee screams. Jade laughs. A real actual laugh. Sydnee is, without a doubt, the most exuberant yeller there ever was.

"Jade? Baby, is that you?" Will asks. She can hear the anxiety in his voice. It breaks her heart to know she put it there.

"Hi, Will." She says, sheepishly.

Will exhales loudly. He chuckles and then says, "I miss you so much."

"Ditto pretty boy. I would have called sooner, but Hannibal is really anal about me calling you." Jade says. And just like that, it feels right to Jade. She can almost pretend that Will is just an hour away rather than half the world.

"Jade, did you take the comforter from our bed?"

"Maybe."

"And I'm going to assume that you took my favorite t-shirt as well?" Will asks, scolding. His voice holds no real weight.

Jade laughs, then immediately the tears are free flowing. She chokes down a sob and says, "Yeah, yeah that was me. I also have our wedding album if you're wondering about that too."

Will laughs. Jade tries to memorize the sound for her memory palace. She wants to be able to hold him, so near to the holiday as it is. The light fades from the sky, and Jade doesn't even notice. They don't talk about where they're at or anything, but rather about the good times.

"Jade, I love you. You know I'm going to find you right?" Will says after a moment of silence. Jade pauses.

"I love you too, Will." Jade sighs. Stinking Hannibal.

"You know Greece is lovely this time of year." Will says not missing a beat. Jade pauses.

"How would you know that?"

"Stop one in 'Will and Sydnee's Grand Adventure to Find Jade and Hannibal'."

Jade laughs. A short bitter sound.

"You're not even close."

Will laughs. Sydnee says something that is too far away for Jade to hear.

"Sydnee says that you're in Italy." Will says casually. Jade chokes. Her heart starts to beat faster.

"How did you..?"

"We didn't. But now we do. Thanks babe. We'll see you for the New Year." Will says cheekily from the other side.

Jade groans. She slaps a hand to her forehead. "I'm so dead. This is it. It's Christmas time and I'm the feast."

Will laughs. Jades wishes she could see him.

"You're so very easy to get information from. I suspect that's why Hannibal wouldn't let you talk to me." Will says. He doesn't sound sorry at all.

"Don't worry, beautiful, I'll be home for Christmas." He finishes.

Hannibal steps out into the cold, just as the snow starts to fall. It clings to his dark coat and sticks there, not melting. He shoves his hands into his pockets and wades down the street to the parking garage.

 _Stupid snow. Stupid F.B.I. for making me have to do this._ Hannibal thinks accusingly. His face is that of anger. He wishes very much that he were at home with Sydnee in front of their fire (or better yet, in bed), rather than having to drive two and a half hours to make a phone call to her.

In the black SUV, Hannibal sits for a moment warming up in front of the heater. He pulls down the sun visor and removes the picture there. A picture from their honeymoon in Greece.

He remembers that day very well, the sun was shining and it caught the reds in her hair just perfectly. It was art, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recreate it from his memory palace. He felt as if she were slipping from his mind. He couldn't… _wouldn't_ allow that.

Staring at the picture for a moment longer, Hannibal then puts it back in its spot and pulls out of the garage, his purpose renewed.

The drive is long, and no amount of opera can keep his mind occupied. His tastes in music, recently bordered on that of what he could remember Sydnee showing to him. Some weird music that is obnoxiously loud with lots of bass. EDM, she called it. It suited her personality perfectly.

Hannibal's grip on the wheel tightens infinitesimally. Jade Graham, was good enough company, smart at some points, yet hilariously daft at others. Unlike Will, he showed her what he looked like under his person suit, and she didn't run. Nor try to kill him, or report him. Just a simple, "Are you almost done, or do I need to make some distractions for you?"

She was…interesting in her own manner.

Hannibal drove deeper into the snow haze. It is getting thicker out there, the farther he drove into the deep countryside of Italy.

Hannibal checked his map and made mental calculations on how much farther he would have to suffer through till he heard Sydnee again. An hour at most.

And an hour he would wait.

The phone rang, once, twice.

"Hannibal?!" Sydnee's voice came in clearly and loudly. Hannibal jerks the receiver away from his ear. He chuckles into the dark.

"Yes, Sydnee. It's me." He says. He can't help the smile that crosses his face when Sydnee launches into a whole rant.

"-AND you didn't even say you loved me, so this entire time I've been absolutely wondering about why you would do such a thing, because obviously you love me." Hannibal shakes with laughter. His flighty wife would never stop to consider the fact she was already asleep.

"Sydnee, Love. Calm. Deep breaths. How you survived six months without me I don't know." Hannibal says, trying to calm his easily agitated wife.

"I don't know either…" Sydnee says very quietly. Hannibal stops, and tries not to acknowledge the sharp feeling of sadness in his chest.

"I'm going to trust you've almost all but figure out where to go by now." Hannibal says trying to keep his voice light.

"Oh, I know where you're at. Jade is easily tricked by Will. She all but gave us your coordinates." Sydnee says happily. He can almost see her radiant smile in his mind now. The more he spoke to her the clearer his memories became. He could almost clearly recall what she smelled like.

"Yes, that was the precise reason I didn't want her talking to Will. She's not very good at keeping secrets from him, now is she?" Hannibal says. He runs a hand through his hair and dislodges most of the snow from his hair. It swirls to the ground in a spiraling motion.

 _Sydnee loves the snow._ Hannibal remembers suddenly. His heart thuds. _I miss her._

"Hanni?" Sydnee calls from the other line. The sound of her distress is like music to his ears.

"Yes, _mi amore_?" Hannibal replies. He relishes the sound of her breathing.

"I really kind of miss you." She says softly.

Hannibal chuckles. "I most undoubtedly miss you most." He says. Sydnee's breathing catches and he can almost hear her tears.

"Give us a week or two, we need to shake the Greece police. The F.B.I. isn't too happy we disappeared to Europe under the radar." Sydnee says her voice thick with tears. Hannibal stops for a moment and absorbs her words.

"You went to Greece. With Will. During Christmas." Hannibal says piecing together a part of her quest.

"And this wasn't going to be the last stop either. I think our next destination would be your home town. Then the cathedral." Sydnee blatantly pointed out. "Now, with thanks to our wonderful Mrs. Graham, we might be there before the year is out."

Hannibal smiled into the night. His own wonderfully brilliant wife trying to figure out his location.

"And when was Italy going to be on the map?"

"After the Cathedral. I wanted to check these places first. I'm sure you have our stories figured out?"

"Naturally."

"Then we'll see you before the year is out!" She sounds dangerously close to hanging up. "I love you Hannibal." She says conversationally.

"I know. And, I'm reminded how much I adore you every time you are away. Be safe _, mi amore_." Hannibal says. His heart slows for a second when Sydnee doesn't respond.

"Bye Hanni. Merry Christmas. I love you." She chokes on her last sentence.

"Goodbye Sydnee. I will be watching for you." Hannibal's hand shakes with suppressed rage. Suppressed irritation with Will Graham for being so much like him, and figuring it out.

"And remember, I love you." Hannibal says to Sydnee. Her line is silent for a few more moments.

"Have fun in your winter wonderland." She says before the line goes dead.


End file.
